Measure to Repeal California’s Death Penalty Qualifies for November Ballot

By John Myers, L.A. Times

California voters will be asked this fall whether to repeal the state’s 38-year-old death penalty, as elections officials announced Friday that an initiative to abolish the law has earned a spot on the Nov. 8 ballot.Backers of the initiative gathered almost 405,000 voter signatures, according to the final tally conducted by county elections officials.

The initiative, championed by former “M*A*S*H” actor Mike Farrell, would eliminate the death penalty for first-degree murder. The most serious punishment would become life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“Whether you look at the death penalty from a taxpayer, a criminal justice or a civil rights perspective, what is clear is that it fails in every respect,” said Farrell in a written statement “We have to do better in California.”

The initiative would require mandatory work while behind bars for those convicted of murder, with wages going to debts owed to crime victims.

The independent Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated that in the long run, the ballot measure would reduce state government expenses by as much as $150 million a year, due the elimination of legal challenges to death sentences.